From Five to Four
by Necronom Hezberek Mortix
Summary: There is a hidden bomb that no villain other than Slade has left for the Titans to find and stop, but something goes terribly wrong. One Titan is missing.
1. Chapter 1

**From Five to Four Ch 1**

**Disclaimer – **I do not own any characters in this story. The plot idea is the only thing that is strictly mine.

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_Ten_

"Starfire! Raven! Beast Boy!" Robin furiously yelled, "Evacuate the people out of the buildings on the entire block _now!_ Two buildings a person."

The three of them nodded, just as eager to get going and save the peoples' lives.

"Cyborg and I will try to find and deactivate the device. There will be no mistakes. This block houses some of the most successful business centers of the entire city. We cannot lose anything or anyone more than we need. Clear?"

More nods to the leader.

There was a bomb. Hidden somewhere above, beneath, or in one of the six buildings on the block was a heavy-duty bomb that the villain none other than Slade had set. That was all the mysterious man had given them; they had nothing else to go by. Robin and Cyborg had quite a task on their hands.

"I'll take the first two," Raven declared, pointing to two matching gray concrete buildings.

"Then I will take the next pair," Starfire followed, moving in front of her respective buildings. These two buildings were not matching like the first two, but they shared a similar color scheme: navy blue and bright white. These buildings were slightly more modernized, consisting of both metal and concrete.

"I'll get the last two then," Beast Boy confirmed, looking at the female Titans beside him. He stood in front of two completely modernized buildings, their fronts completely covered with shiny, black-tinted glass. The metal supports ran through the four corners of the immensely tall buildings. Surely stable for an earthquake, but for a dangerous bomb? Only experience would tell.

* * *

_Nine_

With slight nods of the head, all three sprang into action.

Raven flew straight through the automatic sliding doors, immediately heading to the front desk.

"There's an emergency and everyone in this building needs to clear out! Where is your announcement or PA system?" The nervous twenty-two year old wearing a pastel colored women's suit with a mid thigh skirt pointed a shaky hand at the button and microphone sitting at the edge of the main desk. Raven marched over to it and slammed her finger down on the small red button.

"Attention all that can hear this message! This is Raven, one of the Teen Titans speaking. There is an emergency and all people need to evacuate, now!" Raven announced over the booming PA system. She removed her finger off the button, listening to see if anyone had started moving. She first heard her own voice reverberate off the concrete walls in quieter and quieter echoes. Silence.

_Eight_

Then, as realization sunk in, the screeches of metal chairs on tile and screams and shouts began.

Raven backed up from the desk and began directing the rapidly increasing stream of people in suits to a safer area. She glanced at the trembling girl at the front desk. With a kind but serious smile, Raven said, "You know, that means you too."

Nodding briskly, the girl rose from her chair and merged into the line of people.

Once the first building's people had cleared out, Raven shut the front doors and flew over to the other building.

Repeating her process, she flew up to the receptionist's desk. "There is an emergency and everyone in this building needs to evacuate immediately!" she told the man at the table.

"Thank you, Raven, we heard from next door. Good thing their PA system has always been so annoyingly loud."

Indeed, as Raven listened, she heard people already moving down the metal stairs at a quick rate. The click of heels and dress shoes on the stairs made it clear that the people were on the stairs. Soon enough, she saw people walking quickly towards the front entrance through which she entered.

"Join the people standing all the way over there as quickly as you all can, please!" she yelled over the crowd's murmurs and frantic whispers.

_Seven_

One blonde woman ran up to Raven, dripping sweat. Clearly, she was having some sort of panic attack.

"Raven! What is being done about the emergency? What's going on? Will we be okay? Oh dear, I don't feel too well…" she spoke rapidly, her tongue nearly unable to form the correct sounds to speak coherently.

Raven took hold of the woman's waist as the woman nearly fainted. "Easy there, it's okay. Two of the Titans are already on the job trying to take care of the problem."

The woman started shaking her head like it was attached to a spring. "As citizens of this city, we have a right to know what the heck is wrong!"

"It might be better if you followed the rest of the crowd to safety."

Rambling on and on, the woman frustratingly walked off, rapidly ranting to the person next to her. Even as she approached a distance of thirty feet from Raven, the Titan could see the bobbing and shaking blonde head clearly in the crowd of otherwise generally calm people.

Running out of the empty building herself, Raven whipped out her communicator. "Raven to all Titans. My two buildings are clear. The people are waiting at the safe point."

_Six_

Soon enough, she got a response.

"Good work, Raven. Help Cyborg and me find the bomb Slade's situated somewhere."

Raven's neck lurched forward a bit, her eyes widening. "You mean to tell me that you guys haven't found it yet?" Her aggravated and slightly worried tone was clear.

"We rushed into your first building as soon as the people cleared out. Our scanners didn't locate the device anywhere in this building. We're going into your second in a moment."

Raven sighed and swallowed, her throat starting to feel a bit thick. Time was crucial. If they hadn't found the actual bomb at three minutes in, they were going to have a problem. "You guys have six minutes. Like you said, Robin, we have no room for mistakes."

Robin gritted his teeth at the repetition of his words. "There _won't_ be any mistakes," he spat back.

Raven sighed internally. Robin seemed to always make these statements, and most of the time they turned out to be completely true. She could only hope that this was one of those times.

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**A/N - **I will update once I hit 5+ reviews! This is a gripping story, so you don't want to miss out!


	2. Chapter 2

**From Five to Four Ch 2**

**Disclaimer – **I do not own anything other than the plot idea of this story.

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_Nine_

Starfire was having a bit more trouble with her buildings. At first, she couldn't seem to get past the heavy-duty metal doors. Completely lacking windows, the doors posed a hindrance to her. Backing up, Starfire focused on the door, her eyes sparking bright neon green light.

"Hah!" Her devastating eyebeams melted a large hole through the steel doors. She passed through the whole to be met with very scared glances from the people in the lobby.

"Pardon my interruption, but there is an emergency and everyone needs to exit the building immediately!"

"What's going on?" was the question that left everyone's mouth in the following ten seconds.

"I think that it would be best if only I held that information. Everyone in here needs to evacuate now!" Starfire pressed, looking at the entrance of the building.

A man with his tie loosely tied around his neck reclined in a wooden chair off to Starfire's left. He rose, leaving his desk. He looked directly at Starfire. "I don't believe nothin' unless I see it with my own eyes," the man drawled, taking a sip of his coffee.

Starfire frowned. There was no time to deal with this person. "Please believe me. There is an emergency and we need all in this building to clear out!"

One man in a nicer-looking suit stood up from the front desk. "Come on, Daniel, she's a Teen Titan. She has credibility. I say we clear the building," he agreed.

Leaning over, he picked up the phone that sat on the table. "Attention all. We have been notified that there is an emergency! We need to evacuate the building at once!" He grabbed his jacket and stepped away from the large wooden desk. Many others were now filing down staircases and hallways, all targeting exits of different sections of the building.

_Eight_

"Please proceed to the area over there with the other people!" Starfire pointed out the window at the stream of people that were heading over from one of Raven's buildings. Starfire looked back at the man who had refused to leave the building. He still sat in his chair drinking his coffee and looking at his computer.

"Please, sir. You must leave! You are in danger!" she persisted, approaching the man. "Everyone else is evacuating. You must follow!" Starfire nearly tugged on his shirt.

"Don't touch me! You women are all the same." He paused for a moment, taking a low breath. "I leave this building when I leave to go home. I don't see a fire, or incoming flood, or anything. Since you haven't told me what the emergency is, I don't see a threat." He shrugged her off viciously.

Starfire sighed, her eyes flashing to the clock on the wall. A minute had passed since she entered the building. Time was passing, and this man still refused to leave.

"I do not like to use force, but I will if I must. It is for your own safety." The brilliant light returned to her vibrant green eyes, illuminating them. She looked around the room and up the stairwell. She returned her gaze to the stubborn man. "Nearly everyone else has cleared out. Please, you must follow!" She put her hand on his shoulder.

"I said, don't touch me!" He tried to shrug her hand off once more, but this time, it stayed put.

_Seven_

Pulling the man out of his chair, Starfire dragged him out of the building. She eventually managed to carry him and fly over to where everyone was collecting.

Starfire put him down with a quick apology and flew back over to the second of the black and navy buildings. Walking through the automatic doors, she was stopped by a hand.

"Identification or Visitor's Tag please," requested the male security guard.

"My apologies, sir, but I am here to alert you that there is an emergency! Everyone in this building must evacuate at once!"

"You are a Teen Titan, right?"

Starfire nodded.

"Alright." He reached for his walkie-talkie attached to his black belt. "Mason, Derek, Linda, Teen Titan Starfire has requested evacuation of this building due to an emergency."

"What's the emergency, Jeremy?" asked a female voice over the radio.

"I actually don't know, but here's Starfire. She can tell you." He stuck the communications device in front of Starfire's face. "Go on, so we can clear out."

"Uhh…" Starfire stammered tentatively. She politely pushed away the radio. "I do not want to further worry the citizens. I think it is better that we keep that information for the moment."

Jeremy the security guard sighed. "Well, alright. You guys wouldn't lie to us." He retrieved the radio once more. "Start clearing everyone out. Starfire's not disclosing the info just yet." He turned back to the alien girl. "How much time do we have?"

Starfire shook her head. "Not much."

_Six_

"Hurry it up!" Jeremy shouted into his radio. Promptly, he himself ran down the hallway knocking on doors and evacuating people on the bottom few floors.

Once everyone from Starfire's second building walked in a small crowd out of the building toward the safe area, Starfire pulled out her Titans communicator. "Robin! The second of my buildings is clearing out."

"Good work, Star. See if you can use your communicator to locate the bomb if it is in your first building. Be ready to exit immediately upon calling."

"Oh…" It hadn't occurred to her that her friends hadn't found Slade's bomb yet. This could turn out into an actual emergency, where innocent people got hurt, and buildings were destroyed. How often did this happen to the Titans?

Never. It didn't.

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**A/N - **I just realized how short a chapter this is. Because of that, I'll only ask for 11 reviews this time. Should be easy as squat. :P And please try to leave more meaningful reviews than just "I'd like to keep reading" or "Write faster I like it" or something like that. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

**From Five to Four Ch 3**

**Disclaimer – **I own nothing besides the plot idea. I don't intend to profit in any way from this.

**A/N - **Due to some recent comments about how I've been asking for reviews, I sincerely apologize to all my readers in case anyone was offended or put off by the request. I do realize the importance of writing and posting because I love to, instead of writing because I want reviews. I just wanted to get decent attention for this story since it is planned to be very short, only 6 chapters long. Since all my other stories seem to stop getting reviews right after I finish updating, I didn't want this story to stop with only a few people reading it or 12 or so reviews like my other story/stories have. Thanks for reading my story and this long note. I really appreciate it all. In compensation for my uncalled for request, I am updating this story before I got the 11 total reviews I originally asked for. Half way through now, enjoy.

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_Nine_

Beast Boy ran through the automatic sliding doors of his first building.

"Hey! Everybody! There's an emergency and every one has to evacuate now!" he yelled, arms outspread. Only a few turned their heads at the noise. Most didn't change a thing. Meetings continued. Conversations never stopped. The Tetris game in cubicle number twenty-two kept going.

Beast Boy flashed his eyes around the ground floor. Not seeing much change, he sighed to himself. "Okay B, this is gonna be a liiiitle risky. But so is a bomb, so I guess it's okay…"

Lowering his arms, he walked carefully to the center of the marble -floored lobby. Making sure no one was near him, Beast Boy exhaled.

Moments later, someone finally noticed him.

"Oh my god, there's a green elephant in the lobby!" shrieked a middle aged woman wearing a navy business suit.

As some sort of response, the elephant trumpeted loudly, the echoes shaking the double-paned glass windows. Quickly shrinking back into his human form, Beast Boy yelled out again.

"No, wait! I'm a Teen Titan!" he exclaimed, waving his hands over his head.

Astonished faces finally turned to the changeling.

_Eight_

"Alright, now that I have your attention, this is important. There is an emergency nearby and I need this building evacuated at once!" Beast Boy motioned to the woman who had initially shrieked at the sight of a green elephant. "Please, make your way out the door to the safe area over there, where the big clump of people are standing."

After a few seconds of compelling people to follow his directions, a mass of businessmen and women marched their way over to the safe area.

_Seven_

Running out the door of his first building, Beast Boy reached for his communicator. "Robin, just cleared out my first building. You and Cy find the bomb yet?" Beast Boy could hear Robin's heavy sigh through his communicator. "It's okay, Robin. I got the message. Keep searching."

Robin closed his slightly open mouth and nodded, ending the communication.

Beast Boy turned back to the front of his first building, supervising the steady flow of people out of the edifice. He held up his hands in a crossing guard sort of fashion, moving his arms in the direction of the flow. "That's right, right this way."

_Six_

Hearing Beast Boy's distinctive voice, Raven peered out the eleventh story window of her first building. "Hey, clear out the second building!" she yelled, pointing at the last building at the end of the block. "We don't have much time!"

Beast Boy continued to direct traffic but looked up at his teammate. "What are you still doing in there?"

Raven narrowed her eyes. "Scanning the upper floors for the bomb, what else? Robin is doing the first ten floors, and I'm checking out the upper ten floors. Get the people out of your other building! I was twice as fast as you are!"

_Five_

Raven held her communicator up. "Five minutes, Beast Boy. Five minutes. Go."

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Beast Boy proceeded to wave his traffic-directing arms faster.

"I don't have time for this. Neither do you," was Raven's last statement before she disappeared from the window.

Now that the flow of people out of Beast Boy's first building had subsided, and only a few stragglers were rushing out, he moved onto his second building. Approaching the big metal and glass front doors, Beast Boy mentally prepared what he was going to say in the little time he still had. The glass sliding doors hissed apart and the green teen strolled in. Beast Boy quickly assessed the room. Not big enough for a green elephant to make an appearance. So instead, he went with a smaller, but still very loud lion.

With the noise of an intense, wall-vibrating roar, the room burst into a lot of "Oh my god!" and "What the hell was that?" statements. A severe looking man walked out of a room on the ground floor and smacked his stack of paper onto the front desk. "What the hell is going on here?" Nervous secretaries and other people that worked on the bottom floor pointed tremulously at the front door. The man followed their gaze to see the great, green lion standing on the black mat at the door. "Egad!" he exclaimed, falling back. "Who let a lion in? Everyone! Lock yourselves in a secure room!"

_Four_

Beast Boy growled quickly, and then reverted to his human form! "No! I was just getting your attention! There is an emergency and everyone needs to evacuate now! We don't have much time!"

Seeing a green teenager now standing at the door, the man approached Beast Boy with a stern face. "You mean to tell me that you barge in here as a lion and then expect all of us to evacuate?"

"Well, it worked next door when I was an elephant…" Beast Boy said sheepishly.

"Then tell me, what is the emergency?" the man demanded.

"I'm not supposed to say…but it's bad, and everyone is at risk!"

The man scoffed, taking a sip from a mug of coffee on the front desk. "I don't see a fire or other impending emergency. Also, I believe that only police or firemen have the authority to evacuate a building."

Beast Boy took out a crumpled ball of paper. "Here," he said, shoving it in the man's face. "Here's the police department's document that authorizes the Teen Titans to evacuate buildings on this block today. Now please, tell everyone in the building to evacuate. Everyone's lives are in danger! We are just trying to protect you!"

_Three_

"Alright," the man agreed, a sudden expression of distress appearing on his face. He turned to the nearest secretary. "Commence evacuation protocol."

The secretary nodded and pressed a button on the wall behind her. "Attention all. There is an emergency and we must evacuate as soon as possible. Commencing evacuation protocol." She released the button and stood up, heading for the front door. All the people on the bottom floor followed her.

Beast Boy looked up at the people on the second floor. Everyone was briskly heading for exits on their respective floors.

"Huh, looks kind of like a school fire drill. Well, good thing they're prepared, and not just a screaming bunch of adults running out the front door."

_Two_

With the efficiency of their evacuation protocol, the building was cleared in just over a minute. Beast Boy held the glass door open, making sure that the last few people made it over to the safe area before whipping out his communicator.

"Robin! The last building is clear. You working on the bomb yet?"

"Beast Boy!" Robin's voice came urging and clearly distressed, the most upset and shouting tone Beast Boy had ever heard from his usually calm and serious leader. "We've just finished scanning the entirety of the other five buildings with nothing found. The bomb is in _your building_. Use your communicator and scan the bottom five floors. The rest of us will take care of the other floors. Go now! We have a minute and a half! If we cannot find or dismantle the bomb with thirty seconds remaining, _get out._"

"But Robin, we only have so much time!"

"If I could activate the self-destruct system on the communicators in seconds and Cyborg can practically do anything with technology, we can deactivate a bomb in a minute and a half."

"Understood." With that, Beast Boy rushed back into the building, communicator at the ready. He transformed into a cheetah and held the communicator lightly in his mouth. Running up the first flight of stairs, Beast Boy navigated the main area of the second floor. Without any intense beeping from his communicator, he moved onto the third floor.

Beast Boy quickly wandered around the third floor, panting slightly. He turned the corner and put the communicator down for a second so he could swallow the accumulating saliva. He picked it up again in his cheetah mouth and continued on. The communicator in his mouth began to beep more frequently and louder. With widening eyes, Beast Boy quickened his pace. _The bomb was somewhere on this floor, somewhere near! _As he approached the elevator, Beast Boy noticed a marble stand with an Asian lion on top. The stone lion had a perfect sphere under its left paw. The communicator began blowing up with sirens. In the lion's mouth was a small black object. _That's it! That's the bomb inside the lion's mouth!_

_One_

Transforming back into his normal self, Beast Boy grabbed the communicator and held it to his mouth. "Robin! I found it! It's on the third floor of the last building by the elevator! It's in a stone lion's mouth!"

From the next building, Robin snatched up his communicator and began running down the stairs. He checked the time. _Less than a minute. _Robin growled and slammed his fist into the wall. "It's no use, Beast Boy, we have no time! _Get out! _Everyone! Out of the buildings and over to the safety zone, now!"

Beast Boy stared at the black bomb in front of him for a quick second, but then snapped back into reality. "I have to get out!" He turned around and looked for an exit. The only clear exits he saw were the elevator and the stairs. Transforming into a hawk, Beast Boy grabbed his communicator in his claws and took flight. He zoomed down the stairs, hoping that he would make it out and away in time.

He stopped short when he found that the stairs ended in a steel door. Needing at least human force to open the door, Beast Boy reverted into his normal form. "Come on, come on!" he yelled, slamming his body weight against the door. Something was blocking or jamming the door! "No! This _cannot _be happening!" Beast Boy looked down. A gopher couldn't dig through marble…what was he going to do?

Outside, Robin, Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire had convened a bit away from the buildings, but not quite in the safety are with the rest of the evacuees of the six buildings. Quickly looking around, Starfire gasped. "Wait! Where is Beast Boy?"

_Zero_

"_NO! Beast Boy!_" Robin screamed at the top of his lungs, rushing forward, hoping that somehow, some way, he would save his friend.

The last building erupted in a huge blinding flash of light. The double-paned glass windows all shattered at once, glass hailed down onto the concrete. A wave of light and energy slammed out against the immediate proximity, blasting the four Titans outside yards away in different directions.

"Aaah!" was the mutual response. Robin bounced off and rolled down a hill that took him directly into the city's forest park. "Ooof!" he exclaimed landing at the bottom, his head bashing against a flat stone. "Ugh…" Robin groaned, blacking out from the concussion.

Raven had similar luck. The explosion threw her back into the surrounding bay. Raven splashed down in the cold, ocean water. Levitating herself out of the water, Raven collapsed on the adjacent dock, breathing heavily.

Starfire, with her light body, flew backwards and crashed into a street lamppost, taking it down with her. "Ooof!" she exclaimed, her shoulders and back landing on the cold metal. They made a terrible cracking noise as her spine nearly broke.

Cyborg slammed into the side of a parked black Hummer, completely taking out the front driver's side door. "Aaah!" he yelled as the metal surrendered to the force.

Of the five, Beast Boy was the unluckiest. Slamming his small body weight against the stuck door over and over to no avail, Beast Boy counted the seconds down in his head. _No, no, no, I only have ten seconds! _He looked up the stairwell, back at the door, up the stairs, the door, stairs, door, stairsdoor, stairsdoorstairsdoor! _No! I need to get out!_

Beast Boy's face fell as he weakly pressed up against the door. _You guys, I'm sorry._

As the explosion rang out just two floors above him, shrapnel from the stairwell wall and banister, among other pieces from the surrounding objects, exploded and flew everywhere. Bits of metal stabbed into walls just before the force of the explosion blew away the wall. One of these metal shards found a very unlucky target.

Beast Boy's heart.

He would only know it after it was too late. Far too late.

Beast Boy's lifeless, bleeding body soared through the metal and out the door, flying into the nearby woods, and got caught in the leafy branches of a tall oak tree. Gravity pulled the body down, and it crashed through multiple layers of branch and leaves before flopping onto the ground.

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**A/N – **Please leave your feedback and reviews! I will update when I update. At most it will be in the next few days.


	4. Chapter 4

**From Five to Four Ch 4**

**Disclaimer – **I don't own any thing you recognize in this story. I do not intend to profit from writing FF.

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_Breathe. Exhale._

_The building just exploded. Oh my god. Beast Boy was in there!_

_Breathe. Exhale. _

_We failed to stop the bomb. We couldn't stop Slade. We couldn't save Beast Boy._

_Breathe. Exhale._

_Open your eyes._

With a sharp exhale, Raven opened her eyes and slowly looked up. The area near where the last building stood was demolished. The once strong and modernized building was reduced to its foundation; even that was rocked to its core. The surrounding buildings also suffered major damage, but nothing like the last building's fate.

Raven looked around her, her wet hair swishing around her face. Gripping the dock railing for support, she pulled herself to her unsteady feet. "Robin? Starfire? Cyborg?" She hesitated. Did she dare to say his name? "Beast Boy?"

No immediate responses. Raven heard the groan of metal, and then a human moan. She turned around to see Cyborg half stuck in a black car. Raven ran over to him just as he successfully pulled himself out of the severely damaged vehicle, but fell to his knees. "You okay?" she asked him, offering a hand.

Taking it, Cyborg sighed, but rose to his feet. "Barely." He took a quick look over Raven's shoulder at once was a building. "Beast Boy didn't make it out in time, did he…"

Raven looked down at her feet, her hair shadowing her face. "I…I don't think so."

"Come on." Cyborg put a hand on the empath's shoulder, causing her to look up at him. "We need to find the others." With a quick nod, both of them rushed down the street hoping that they could find their friends. Alive.

Looking over further down the street, amongst all the monochrome gray, Raven spotted a bundle of something red. _Hopefully that's not somebody's blood…_

After motioning to Cyborg, Raven and Cyborg rushed over to the vibrant color. In the midst of bits of broken metal and displaced pieces of concrete lied Starfire, her shoulders and back askew at a terrible angle.

"Oh god, it looks like her back may be broken. Can you heal her?" Cyborg asked Raven.

Raven knelt down and brought out her hands encased in a light blue power. "I can try."

_Breathe. Exhale. _Raven tried to relax her body as she prepared to transfer some of the injury and pain from Starfire's body to her own, thus healing Starfire. Her injury was significantly more dangerous than Robin's broken arm some time ago as the human spine was thicker, and a lot more important in staying alive. "Stay with me, Starfire" Raven urged her unconscious friend, accelerating her healing process by intensifying her focus. A single drop of sweat trickled down the side of her face. Her hands even began to tremble slightly. In response, the blue aura around her hands glowed just a bit brighter.

Minutes later, Raven had taken a great deal of the injury's pain and couldn't take it for much longer. Starfire's shoulders and back were now properly aligned, the healing process nearly as complete as Raven could manage. Raven suddenly collapsed forward next to Starfire, her eyes clamped shut in a tight wince.

"Raven? What's wrong?" Cyborg hurriedly asked, kneeling down beside her. "What happened?"

After a few quiet, strained groans from the dark haired girl, her face relaxed.

"Raven?"

"Hh…healing such an injury…" Raven paused, the dull pain within her returning. "…does that to me."

Cyborg looked over at the redhead. "And Starfire? Will she be okay?"

"More okay than she was before." Raven managed to sit up relatively straight and look over at her female friend. "She's still alive and her heart is beating, so I guess that's pretty good."

_Breathe. Exhale. _The dull sensation inside Raven seemed to subside with each deep, focused breath she took. _Good. _

"Do you think she'll regain consciousness soon with such an injury, even if partially repaired?" Raven asked Cyborg, looking over her shoulder.

Cyborg stroked his chin with a contemplative expression on his face. "It's hard to tell, even if she were a normal human. Nearly broken backs tend to end with long visits to the hospital if not to the morgue. Nearly broken backs partially healed by magic, I have no idea. I mean, she's a strong Tamaranian. She'll endure."

As both conscious Titans watched Starfire, her eyelids fluttered and her lips quivered. "Starfire?" asked Raven, observing very cautiously.

Raven's dark amethyst eyes were soon met with bright neon green ones.

"My neck and back are most uncomfortable."

Waves of relief washed over Raven and Cyborg, and Cyborg released a shallow breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Whew! She's alive," Cyborg sighed, wiping his brow.

Raven looked around, her purple eyes searching. "Anyone see where Robin went?"

"Yeah, he was standing next to me. I think he landed over there." Cyborg pointed to the city's forest park. "We better hurry."

After helping Starfire up and making sure she was recovered enough to walk or fly, the three headed over to look for Robin in the woods.

"Robin?" called Cyborg, "Where are you?"

Raven stopped abruptly. "He's near." She turned sharply to her right and took off running.

Ever since the mental bond was established when the reagent in Slade's mask infected him, Raven could sense Robin even better. The fact that he was unconscious didn't even matter. His mind was still there, just not as active.

Raven spotted a heap of something black at the bottom of the hill next to a flat gray stone. Could that be…

"Robin!" Raven quickened her pace, the other two hot on her trail. She knelt down next to him, putting her hand on his right shoulder. "Are you alright?"

No response.

"Robin, you need to wake up," Raven insisted, shaking him gently.

"Mrhrhrhh…"

"Come on, Rob, we need to find Beast Boy still," added Cyborg.

"Beast Boy!" Robin roared, springing to life. He immediately sat up, his hand flying up to his forehead. "Ack…"

Raven lightly placed her hand on Robin's head, embedding her fingers in his gelled hair. "You might have a minor concussion. Take it easy."

"There's no time to take it easy! We have to find Beast Boy," Robin spat, shoving her hands away as he stumbled to get up. Robin swiped out his communicator from his belt only to have it crumble to pieces in his hand. The material broke apart in multiple places, leaving fragments of the whole. Robin looked over to his friends. Both Raven and Starfire stood with their communicators in similar states in their hands. "Cyborg?" Robin asked.

"Way ahead of you." Cyborg touched the screen built into his arm. "Beast Boy? Do you copy?" The responding call was nothing more than static.

"Perhaps he is unconscious and cannot respond?" Starfire offered quietly.

Robin stomped over to a nearby tree and landed a fierce hit in the middle of the trunk. "Aaah!" He was breathing heavily, his face tinged with red. "Slade went too far. Too far, I tell you. And he can't take it back."

"Robin, you're talking like Beast Boy's—"

"He was still inside the building when it exploded, Raven. What chance did he have to make it out alive when the bomb was directly above him?" Robin yelled. "A miniscule chance. We'd need a miracle."

"Hey, miracles have happened before," Cyborg acknowledged, nodding to Raven.

"Please, Robin, we must hope for the best," Starfire pleaded, standing close to him.

Robin sighed. After a moment, he turned to his friends. "Split up. We'll search the forest."

"But our communicators are a little, well…damaged," responded Raven, emptying her hands of the pieces of her communicator.

Robin looked at her sternly. "Yell."

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**A/N - **Thank you for the reviews! Almost there! Anyone else pick up on Robin's intense desire to see everything okay? Who thinks they can explain why?


	5. Chapter 5

**From Five to Four Ch 5**

**Disclaimer- **I own nothing you recognize like everyone else on here.

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**Two Days Later**

A body sat in a pool of its own blood by the base of a large tree. Something stirred within the body. No, it wasn't the heart of the person. That had been speared by a shard of metal so sharp; it could have pierced a slab of wood straight through. It was a soul.

The wispy soul flew out of the body and positioned itself a few feet from its body. The soul took on a familiar humanoid appearance; the appearance of Beast Boy.

_I failed. I failed them, my friends. I failed myself. And now, I'm…I'm…_

Beast Boy looked down at his hands. Misty gray substance glared back at him. He could peer through his gloved hands and see the forest floor below.

_No, oh no, no, no!_ _It can't be! Well, there's only one way to find out for sure._

Beast Boy walked over to a tree, standing directly in front of it. He cringed as his arm shot out. He slowly peeled his eyes open. His arm had penetrated the tree trunk.

_Oh god, oh god, that's it, that's proof! I'm a goner!_

Beast Boy wandered around, unable to concentrate on anything. He plopped on the ground, the dirt below undisturbed. He exhaled sharply, closing his eyes. _I'm sorry, guys. I couldn't help stop the bomb. We couldn't stop Slade. I hope that you guys can forgive me._

Beast Boy paused. _They probably don't know where I am, or the fact that I'm dead. I…should let them know. I'll be okay…_ Beast Boy sighed, saying the last part to convince himself as well.

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"Anybody find him?" Robin yelled out into the surrounding space, his voice echoing through the forest.

"No, man! Where could he be?" Cyborg replied, shouting back with equal volume.

"Ugh, Beast Boy!" Robin called out again, waving away some flies. A black, swirling portal opened up from the ground behind him. "Robin, we've been looking for two days, and we've found nothing," Raven said, rising out of the ground. "I'm tired, Starfire's been yawning all day. I can hear her thirty feet away. If Beast Boy's still out here, don't you think he would have found us by now? Even if not, this is the forest, and it is a home to a lot of animals. He should be fine."

"You can't be telling me to stop searching for him, are you?" Robin asked her.

"I know I've never been an optimist, but…the chance of him getting out alive was so very slim, Robin. Optimism isn't always reality," Raven sighed.

"Maybe not, but like I said before, it doesn't hurt to hope."

"I just hope you're right." With those final words, Raven stepped away and dipped into the shadow of a nearby tree.

"Robin," a voice behind him called, "it is true. I am feeling quite sleepy. May we please return home?"

"Starfire, we have to find Beast Boy, you know that," Robin insisted.

"Look, man," Cyborg said to Robin, running over, "If Beast Boy is alive within a two mile radius, my sensors should be able to pick up his heartbeat. That explosion couldn't have blown him more than two miles away."

Robin shook his head, rejecting the idea. "He has to be here. Raven, can you sense him?"

"I can try," Raven sighed, taking a few steps backwards. She closed her eyes and raised her hood, concentrating to find her center.

_Beast Boy, if you're alive in the area, please talk to me. We're all worried about you. We've had no signs, nothing, from you. Robin's getting upset…we need to find you. Please, if you can sense this…_

Raven paused, waiting for the response that usually came as a mental vibration of thoughts.

_Five seconds passed…_

The wind rustled the leaves in the tall, dark trees above.

_Ten seconds passed…_

The air around the Titans became colder and more piercing.

_Fifteen seconds passed…_

A branch behind Raven snapped.

Raven whipped around, gasping. She held up a black encircled hand, ready to attack if needed. Her eyes settled on a green parrot standing on top of a snapped twig.

"…Beast Boy?"

Without warning, the bird took flight, zipping through the leafy branches.

"Follow that bird!" Robin commanded, pointing at the treetop. He ran ahead, his eyes locked on the parrot.

Cyborg headed off next, waving Starfire to follow. She slowly stood up straighter before taking a few steps forward before lifting off the ground.

Raven let out a big breath, feeling something in her stomach lift up. She took flight after Starfire. She wished that the feeling she just experienced was the hope Robin on which had depended so much.

"Beast Boy! Wait up! We're your friends!" Robin yelled, panting. The parrot didn't stop to turn its head toward its caller. "Come on!"

Finally, the parrot landed on a low branch on a lone tree about half a mile from where the Titans first encountered it. It turned around and cocked its head at Robin before looking down at the tree's base.

"Wait, look!" Raven said in a hushed whisper, pointing to the tree trunk.

Or rather, what was behind it.

It was like looking through a thin fog. It was misty and slightly transparent, but there was no question about what it was. A ghostly, translucent green tiger crept out from behind the tree trunk. It didn't have a fearsome expression on his face, rather an expression of sorrow. Its furry eyebrows were pointed upwards to form an upside-down V.

Robin held out an arm, stopping Cyborg from barging into the misty tiger. He opened his mouth tentatively, and then swallowed. "…Beast Boy?"

"Hey Robin."

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**A/N - **OMG a twist! Leave your reactions in a review and send me feedback if you get the chance! Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

**From Five to Four Ch 6**

**Disclaimer – **I do not own anything you recognize. Thank you…

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_Hey Robin..._

It was a hushed whisper; so faint that Robin thought he had imagined the words.

"So it's true? You're…"

"Yeah, it looks bad doesn't it," the tiger mouthed, the vocal noises sounding just like Beast Boy's voice, but it echoed slightly.

"What happened in there?" Cyborg managed to say.

"I found the bomb on the third floor by the elevator in a stone lion's mouth. Apparently the bomb was thirty seconds or so from detonating, so Robin called off the mission. I tried to escape as quickly as I could by running down the emergency stairs, but I couldn't get out of the stairwell because the door was jammed or something." The tiger paused, looking away.

"And?" Raven asked, breaking her silence.

"I'm not sure you want to hear the rest."

Robin slowly knelt down, putting his right hand on the soft ground. "We do, we need to, Beast Boy. We need to know…how you…died."

A long silence drifted through the Titans and the green tiger, no one making a noise.

"Alright….The bomb exploded when I was still trying to get out. Some shrapnel from the stairs or something stabbed my chest and cut through my heart. And…I died…" The tiger sat solemnly on the ground, emitting a soft whimper. The tiger picked its head up and looked at the Titan in the back. "Oh, Starfire, please don't cry."

The other three Titans looked over their shoulders to see Starfire with silent tears freely flowing down her cheeks. She sat huddled on the ground behind Cyborg and Raven, the farthest from the ghostly tiger.

Between sobs, the alien girl managed to choke out, "Beast Boy, you are one of our closest friends. You cannot be gone forever!"

"Star, I don't really have a choice. And besides, eventually, all of you will join me too and we'll be together again, for eternity, at least I think so…" The tiger glanced briefly at the two girls.

"Hey B," Cyborg whispered, his eyes starting to seem just a bit glassy and teary, "if this is really the end, then we need some more closure." Everyone knew what Cyborg was going to say next. "Where's your body?"

The tiger came out from behind the tree trunk, showing itself in full to the team. It turned and ran off to the right as the team rose to their feet and followed. After about ten seconds of running, the tiger slowed to a steady walk and turned the corner.

There at the bottom of a tree sat Beast Boy's lifeless human body. He lay on his back sprawled on the ground, his head slightly propped up on a protruding brown root. His uniform was torn and slightly singed, but the worst area was of course, his chest.

Incredibly bloodied and unmoving, Beast Boy's chest was penetrated by a sharp shard of metal, shiny as the blade of a sword in the dark night.

"My god…" Robin murmured, appalled.

"Oh B, this is…ooy," whispered Cyborg as he knelt down next to the cooling body, just as astonished.

"Raven," Robin called, turning to her, "do you think it's possible to heal his body and bring him back?"

Raven's eyebrows furrowed at the thought. "Robin, my powers can mend some injuries like broken bones," she said softly, touching his right forearm, "but to heal his entire body and repair his heart? I don't think it can be done."

"If you can at least heal his heart, Cyborg can restart his heart with the defibrillators back in the medical ward, right?" Robin continued, now facing Cyborg.

"I'm not sure, Robin, it highly depends on how close Raven could get his heart back to normal, and even then, there's a chance that the heart might not respond to the electrical stimulation."

Raven nodded. "And to mess with natural life and death—"

"We resisted death with you, Raven," Robin spat, walking up close to her. "Isn't it only fair to at least try to help Beast Boy?"

"I can try, but he's probably gone—"

"Gone? He's still lingering here for a reason, Raven," continued Robin.

"I, uh, actually tried to stay to let you guys know that I'm okay, since you all couldn't find me," the tiger mouthed.

"Please," Starfire interjected, pushing herself between Raven and Robin, "if we cannot resurrect friend Beast Boy, may we at least say goodbye to him pleasantly?"

Robin sighed, "You're right, Star." He turned to his other female friend. "I'm sorry, Raven."

Raven exhaled slightly, looking up into her leader's eyes. "I accept your apology."

"Shouldn't we all say some words?" offered Cyborg, motioning to his friends.

The other three Titans walked back over to the ghostly tiger, which by now seemed even more misty and translucent.

Robin started first. "Beast Boy, you have truly been a great friend and teammate. We will avenge you. We'll make Slade pay for our terrible loss. I will make sure of it. Also, I'm extremely sorry that we didn't exactly get along all the time, but I'm still glad that we were able to work together in a group. I'll miss you, Beast Boy."

Finishing his words, Robin stepped back and invited the next person to take the stand. Starfire went up next.

"Friend Beast Boy," she started, wiping tears from her green eyes, "it has been a great pleasure knowing you and fighting the villains with you. You are so funny, and I know we will all miss your laughter in the Tower. Thank you also for my bumgorf, Silkie, and I am certain that he too will miss you greatly. We enjoyed many times together, and I will miss your cute kitty face. Goodbye, friend."

Cyborg took Starfire's place after giving her a big brotherly hug. "Hey BB, there's nothing really for me to say that you don't already know. You're my best friend, and I will miss you every day from this day forward. Who will I play video games with to the point that it bothers everyone else in the Tower? Who'll eat all the tofu in the fridge? Maybe we'll see a green spirit hanging around the Tower sometimes. Anyways, you should come visit every so often, you know, just make an appearance. I'll miss you tons, Beast Boy. Thanks for being such a great friend."

Wiping almost unseen tears from his human eye, Cyborg stepped back and sat on a flat gray stone behind the group.

Robin turned his head. "Raven?"

Raven slowly walked up to the misty tiger, her friends parting to give her access.

"Beast Boy, as much as you might think that I don't value you as a friend or teammate, I do. I do value as a friend, and I'm terribly sorry you had to go this way. We might have failed you as a team, but we definitely haven't failed you as friends. Take care, Beast Boy. Like Cyborg said, you should visit. But still don't try to sneak into my room, because I'll know you're there," she finished, tapping her head with her index finger. A small but genuine smile crept up onto her face.

"Alright, ya'll, it's getting late, and I'm sure all of you are tired, but there's still one thing we gotta do to wrap up this whole ordeal. Starfire, Raven, help me with the body?" Cyborg instructed.

As the other three Titans went to tend to the body, Robin stayed behind, still not exactly finished with the green tiger. Robin knelt down, putting his face in front of Beast Boy's.

"Hey Beast Boy, one last thing. Do you mind telling my parents that I'm doing fine down here, and that I say hello?"

"Wait, who are your parents? Have they passed too?" asked the confused Titan.

"John and Mary Grayson, the Flying Graysons," responded Robin, as slight smile on his face.

"No way!" exclaimed Beast Boy in an excited whisper. "So wait, does that make you…"

"Richard Grayson? Yeah, it does."

"More reasons to call you 'sir'!"

Robin chuckled, the smile becoming warmer and larger on his face. "But if you could do that, Beast Boy, I'd appreciate it."

The tiger smiled, looking up at Robin. "I'll definitely pass on the message, Robin, I mean, Richard. And, I get to meet the Flying Graysons! Two awesome things in one!"

Robin sighed, the smile fading slightly. "We'll be sad to see you go, Beast Boy."

"I'm sad too, but it has to happen," the tiger agreed.

"Hey, Robin, you ready to go?" called Cyborg, who was roughly fifteen feet away.

"Just about, Cyborg." Robin turned back to the tiger. "So I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah, I guess it is. See you later, Robin."

Robin nodded and rose to his feet, dusting off his knees in the process. He waked back over to Cyborg and placed a hand on the metal Titan's shoulder. "Let's go home."

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Roughly an hour and a half later, just before midnight, the four remaining Titans gathered meters under Titans Tower in a dark, spacious room underground. After cleaning up the body and making it look as if Beast Boy were merely sleeping, the Titans placed him in a deep brown mahogany casket. Cyborg and Robin pushed the casket across the ground to position it next to a hole in the ground that they dug just before. Raven concentrated her energies and levitated the casket, lowering it gently into the hole. Small clots of dust flew out of the hole, forming a temporary cloud. Raven levitated the mound of rock and dirt that Cyborg and Robin had dug up earlier and placed it evenly over the casket.

"Starfire?" she called out.

"I am here," she replied.

Forming a starbolt in her right hand, she cut out a medium sized piece of rock from the nearby wall. Flying to catch it, she grunted slightly as the rock's weight fell into her arms. She returned to the others and the gravesite and planted the rock at the head of the grave.

"Friends, what shall we inscribe on the tombstone?" she asked.

"How about, 'Beast Boy. A Teen Titan. A funny, unforgettable friend. You will be missed, but never forgotten," suggested Robin.

The idea received nods from the rest of the Titans.

Starfire formed a mini starbolt on the tip of her right index finger and began to carve the inscription as her friends perfected the rest of the grave, clearing away any excess dirt and cleaning up the general area.

After Starfire had finished, she stood up and took a few steps back. "It is complete."

The four Titans lined up in a horizontal line and faced the grave, solemn expressions on every face.

Raven spoke up. "We hope you like it here as your final resting place, Beast Boy. You have Terra to keep you company in the afterlife."

The Titans slowly regrouped in the common room after changing into fresh clothes. Each Titan dumped his or her worn uniform into the laundry basked at the side of the room.

"Long day, huh," commented Robin quietly.

"Yeah…" murmured everyone else.

All of a sudden, the television flickered on. Everyone whipped his or her head at the sudden noise. Mega Monkeys 4 began to play itself on the screen.

There sat the faintest green outline of someone holding Beast Boy's green and yellow controller.

A wave of bittersweet feeling washed over each Titan. Robin smiled as he thought he saw a grin appear on the figure's face. "Welcome home."

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**A/N - **Yay! Somewhat bittersweet/happy/aww ending! I actually teared up I think three times writing this story. Since it took me so long to actually write anything, the bitter moments were able to sink in. Cyborg's words to Beast Boy were the worst, aside from the very end. At least that tells me that my emotions exist. Thanks for reading! Leave me your thoughts and reactions in a review please! Tell me why you did or didn't like the story. Thanks all! My next story's already in the works, but it might still be a while, so hang tight!


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